Pitney Bowes Updates Communicate for Personalized Customer Engagement

Pitney Bowes took another step towards shaking off its postage meters legacy today with the release of new enhancements to its Communicate customer engagement technology suite.

The Stamford, Conn.-based company announced updates which include new capabilities for interactive personalized videos for digital communications.

Communicate solutions are designed to help brands boost customer engagement with technology that "guides personalized interactions across all channels," according to company officials.

"Everything we do and the way we're approaching the business is about getting that single view of the customer," said Chris Hall, vice president of customer engagement from Pitney Bowes. "And then we can add location intelligence and data to add context to that customer. Where are they physically and what are they doing."

Video, Email Updates

Today's launch is the second phase for the Communicate platform, which the company launched last June, Hall told CMSWire.

The updates to existing capabilities include:

EngageOne Video v2.3, which combines video with user data to deliver interactive, personalized video, now features an integration with Rapt Media. It will include analytics and feedback generated through deployment

EngageOne Output Manager v3.0, which optimizes document workflow and print management. The update today includes a new module to allow users to ingest PDF communications, create tags and archive communications during the production workflow

MAIL360 v4.0, which collects electronic mail event data from the United States Postal Service (USPS), automates translation of USPS event data and matches it to business data using a standardized format. MAIL360 today introduces Return Mail Workflow, which uses an automated process for reviewing and reconciling delivery addresses

Pitney Bowes has partnered with Rapt Media, PointSource and Document Dialog for these updates.

With interactive personalized video you can control the video and use APIs to drive the personalized engagement, Hall said.

"It renders in real time," Hall added. "It's all the same video but fragments and pieces to it are assembled in real time."

Faith in CX

Pitney Bowes faces many challenges if it wants to return to the glory days of 1998, when it had a value of about $18 billion. It's now valued at roughly $2.9 billion.

The company reported losses in its most recent annual report. Profits dropped from approximately $408 million in 2015 to $92.8 million last year.

It's gone with more digital offerings in the past 15 years.

Hall stands by his company's investment in CX technology, adding, "if companies are not focused on customer experience, they're going to lose their customers."

"Before," he said, "they were focusing on how to cut costs and not experience. Now it's about how to provide a better experience and not just the acquisition. How do I get them in and how was their onboarding experience? They're now caring about the entire journey and the retention aspect of it."

The company's customer experience offerings have earned it recognition from the big analyst firms, including a leaders spot in the most recent Gartner MQ for Customer Communication Management Software.

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